Thread by @TaylinSimmonds

One pattern I’ve noticed in all miserable people:

They overthink and underact.

The system I use to escape the cold, dark prison of overthinking:

“Energy goes where attention flows”

Your energy gets stuck when all your attention is on the thoughts in your head. This creates a downward spiral.

Pull your attention elsewhere to escape the vortex.

This is how:

1/ Develop meta-awareness

(Your ability to notice when you’re overthinking).

Understand that you are not your thoughts; you’re the thinker

I meditate 20 minutes a day, bringing my focus back to my breath whenever I catch myself thinking.

2/ Untangle energy knots

Overthinking is a byproduct of unprocessed trauma and negative emotions.

It’s like when your grandma’s kettle boils; the steam builds up until it screams.

Energy that you push down, corrupts your mind. In order to heal, you need to feel.

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Thanks :)

3/ Overthinking stems from indecision

We fear the pain of making the wrong choices. And worse, we fear regret.

But once you understand that every decision has consequences, you can make a choice with certainty.

Choose the path that aligns with your values and don’t look back.

4/ You don’t have a thinking problem, you have an action problem

Miserable people try to think their way out of problems that can only be solved with action.

Make action your default mode.
(This tip alone saved my life)

5/ Overthinking is the opposite of focus

Overthinking = scattered consciousness
Focus = single pointed consciousness

If you allow yourself to be distracted by social media, messages, emails, calls, and cheap media…

You are training your mind to be chaotic.

If you can take control of your mind, you've joined the 1%.

Where your attention goes, you give power.

Do you want to give it to politicians and meme accounts who don’t know you exist?

Or do you want to use it to make your dreams come true?

6/ Abolish pesky thought loops

Looping = bouncing between 2 or 3 dark thoughts

Most people try to think their way out of a thought loop.

Thinking only creates thought loops. Writing breaks them.

Grab a journal and brain dump your thoughts…

The longer you journal the more stories you will notice.

Separate these stories from the facts.

Most of the stories you tell yourself are based in emotion. They’re created by your mind to validate your feelings.

Once the story is on the page, you realize it isn’t always true.

Writing brings order to the chaos of your mind.

And it might help you bring order to someone else’s.

Write in your journal to free your mind.
Write on social media to free the world.

Thank you!

I’m grateful to be able to make a living sharing ideas like this that have changed my life.

Follow me @TaylinSimmonds for more on writing and thinking.
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Until next time,
TS